TOW #21 - Jennifer Lawrence: "Why Do I Make Less Than My Male Co‑Stars?"

While the differences between men and women go back hundreds of thousands of years, the lives we lead and the paths we take are beginning to merge.  Women are fighting to be heard more often in nearly every industry I can think of, yet the problems still exist.  As Jennifer Lawrence writes in her open letter to the entertainment industry, "all I hear and see all day are men speaking their opinions, and I give mine in the same exact manner, and you would have thought I had said something offensive".  Women are afraid to give their opinions, or to negotiate for fair pay in an industry dominated by powerful men.  While the stigma that women are inferior still exists, it must be fought against in order for change to happen and for both sexes to be seen as equal.
I'm not usually the outspoken feminist, and Jennifer Lawrence certainly isn't either.  However, feminism simply means believing that women should be given the same rights and have the same opportunities as men.  Personally, this sounds pretty fair, and obvious.  Why should women who are working just as hard, and often even harder, than men be compensated less for their work?  In addition, Lawrence highlights the difficulty she has attempting to negotiate for higher pay, because she doesn't want to come off looking like a "spoiled brat".  This issue goes much beyond just getting equal pay, it is the stereotypes that are attached to powerful women.  Women should not be raised to be soft spoken and submissive, simply because a man is taught to care less about what women have to say.  Our sons must be raised to respect women and to see them as equals.  Women in every industry should not be afraid of looking petty or unthankful, just because they want to be treated fairly for the time and hard work they are putting into a job.
Jennifer Lawrence makes a good point when she talks about feminism being a "trending" topic.  It's often hard for these issues to feel important if all they feel like is temporary.  However, the problem is not going away, and women have been treated as lesser to men for far too long.  The practice is ancient and can no longer apply to the world we live in today.  Something must be done, and taking a stand, as Lawrence did, is merely the first step.

TOW #20 - The Place to Disappear

On Khao San Road in Bangkok, the long journeys and varying languages of drug seeking adventurers collide.  While still a part of Thailand, Khao San Road is a melting pot of tourism, catering to the varying needs of the young travelers who spend time here.  In her essay, The Place to Disappear, Susan Orlean outlines the necessity of a place where time doesn't seem to matter, yet everyone is temporary.  The nearly invisibility of this area is also exactly why it is important.  While great cities and permanent artifacts are great, the horribly loud and tacky class of a place such as Khao San Road is incredibly important to the world.
Young travelers, such as backpackers and party-seekers, learn to move from place to place with excellent grace, and mostly without a trace.  Each person in a temporary stop like Khao San Road has an incredible story to share, and a lifetime of memories usually made within a few months.  At most, a few years.  The small noodle shops and pulsing clubs are filled with 20-somethings searching for themselves, fresh out of Israeli army service, or circling back to the US after work in the Peace Corps.  Khao San Road is a place where these experiences clash, but not in the negative sense of the word.  It is a "jumping off" place, where journeys end and others begin.  Not really anywhere, but everywhere all at once.  Here is where young men and women can find the cheapest flights from the scariest of airlines, or simply stay in a guesthouse starting at $7 per night.  The stories that all collide at this place is what makes it so important.
Without really being anywhere, Khao San Road is familiar and comfortable.  Visitors are often dealing with various issues, but are smart and kind to the locals, and abide by their traditions.  Every single type of person can be found here, and it has become a melting pot of unimaginable depth.  Having a place where it's hard to be found and it's hard to know why you're there exactly, is precisely why Khao San Road has become such an incredible place.  The collision of ways of life have provided a scene that is not typical, yet fascinating to come upon.